Palisa, Johann (1848–1925)

Austrian astronomer who discovered 121 asteroids
, all through visual observation without the aid of photography, and published
two catalogs containing the positions of 4,700 stars. He remains the most
successful visual discoverer in the history of minor planet research.

Palisa found his first asteroid, subsequently named 136 Austria, on Mar.
18, 1874, using a 6-inch refractor at the Austrian Naval Observatory in
Pola, Istria. After discovering 27 more objects in Pola, he was offered
a position in Vienna where he had access to the new large refractor (at
that time the largest telescope in the world). The last asteroid he found
was 1073 Gellivara, in 1923.

In 1883, Palisa joined the expedition of the French Academy to observe the
total solar eclipse on May 6 of that year. During the eclipse, he searched
for the putative planet Vulcan, which was
supposed to circle the Sun within the orbit of Mercury. In addition to observing
the eclipse, Palisa collected insects for the Natural History Museum in
Vienna. He was born in Troppau, Silesia (now Czech Republic).